JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Copper cathode production at Aim-listed Weatherly International’s Tschudi mine, in Namibia, improved by 21% quarter-on-quarter to 4 105 t in the quarter ended September 30.
Tschudi C1 costs reduced by 15% to $5 402/t.
“The company continues to experience lower-than-anticipated leach rates . . . and continues to compensate for this by exposing ore faster in the pit and stacking higher volumes of copper metal in ore, which together result in a higher C1 cost in the short to medium term,” the company said in a statement.
Weatherly continues to extend the heap leach pad area to provide additional time for the leaching of copper and has now completed the construction of four new leach pads.
Bulk earthworks and clay liners for the final remaining three pads are also complete.
The company noted that openpit groundwater inflows continue to increase as pit mining proceeds to deeper elevations; however, the flow rates are being managed adequately to ensure a reliable supply of ore for stacking.
Weatherly has also warned that it, and its subsidiaries, are unlikely to generate sufficient surplus cash to meet all loan repayments when due, particularly in the near term.